This week, the Dow finally crossed the magical 13K mark and is holding steady. More impressive, the S&P 500 closed above 1,400 for the first time since 2008 and the NASDAQ composite closed above 3,000 for the first time since 2000.

The common theme was that investors were bilked, scammed and even murdered by unscrupulous money managers. Although most advisors are honest, hard-working professionals, these types of stories are becoming way too common to ignore.

The future of 2012 may be ominous based on the Mayan calendar, but it doesn’t look like the world is going to end on the stock market.  In fact, it looks like 2012 could be a pretty good year for investors.  It’s easy to be optimistic when thinking about a brand new year.  But, I …

Continue reading “2012 looks like a Good Year for the Stock Market”

Since 1992, I have had a goal of becoming a millionaire. I am on track to reach my goal before retirement age, but the stock market certainly hasn’t been cooperating lately.

I’m not a Buy-and-Holder. I believe that Yale Economics Professor Robert Shiller’s research has shown Buy-and-Hold to be a gravely flawed strategy and that Valuation-Informed Indexing (which teaches that investors must change their stock allocations in response to big valuation swings) is far more sensible and effective approach.